Puke Ariki, which opened in 2003, is an combined museum, library and tourist information centre in New Plymouth.
The Museum has three permanent galleries Taranaki Naturally, Taranaki Life, and Takapou Whāriki. These exhibitions explore Taranaki’s geological, early settler life, and Māori history. There also two temporary galleries for visiting and short term exhibitions.
The Museum is open Monday to Friday 9am to 6pm and 9am to 5pm on weekends.
There is an airbridge that links the Museum and i-Site with the public library. The library is open the same hours as the museum, except for a late night on Wednesday with a 9pm closure.
Puke Ariki is located at 1 Ariki Street, New Plymouth.
I stayed in New Plymouth on my travels around the north island in 2014, so that I could go up to Mt. Taranaki. For no reason that I understand now, I assumed New Plymouth was a little coastal town and so didn’t organise time for a good look around. It’s a very interesting place and I’ll come back in the future for another look. Not too far from Australia after all.